


Stand In Dad | Costume Shopping

by kiokushitaka



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drabble, Father Figures, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Halloween Costumes, Loss of Parent(s), POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 13:57:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2431367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiokushitaka/pseuds/kiokushitaka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi takes Eren costume shopping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stand In Dad | Costume Shopping

**Author's Note:**

> so i saw [this prompt](http://50shadesofsexyereri.tumblr.com/post/99400981701/i-just-want-to-see-some-cute-platonic-ereri-fluff) and decided to come up with the world's angstiest backstory before actually writing the costume bit because i'm a huge nerdlord. i'm thinking about doing a drabble collection of little one-shots that take place in this universe, now, too... because papa levi and child eren are too cute for words and i apparently want to get diabetes... anyway, here goes. it's in levi's pov.

A few years ago, I became a father.

Mind you, this was a wholly unconventional process and probably not what you’re thinking, and while I love being a father figure to Eren, I’m not his biological father. Actually, the circumstances surrounding how I became Eren’s father were pretty shitty.

Carla and Grisha Yeager were close friends of mine and had written me in their will as their son’s caretaker in the event anything happened to them.

There had been a terrible car accident… they died, so here we were.

* * *

It was autumn and Eren was six now, having just started kindergarten. He’d been quick to make friends with a boy in his class and had been telling me all about him.

“His name is Armin and he’s like me!” He said excitedly, nearly bouncing where he stood.

“Oh?” I asked, genuinely interested as I picked up his book bag from where he’d thrown it in the mudroom and putting it in its proper place.

“Yeah, his—his mom and dad are in heaven too.” Eren elaborated, his voice faltering as it shifted to a more somber tone. I felt my chest clench up and I couldn’t keep the pitiful expression off of my face as I used my free hand to ruffle his messy hair. He grabbed my wrist, “No papa Levi! Stop it! You’re messing up my hair!”

“I don’t know… it already looked messed up to me, brat.” I replied, ruffling it even more. Eren started laughing and I felt myself smile. “Anyway, you should ask your new friend—Armin?—if he wants to come over and play sometime. I bet he’d like that.”

“For real!?” He asked incredulously, looking up at me with wide, hopeful eyes.

“For real.” I replied. “I’ll even bake cookies… but you have to help me clean the house. We can’t let him know what a dirty little piggy you can be, now can we?”

“I’m not a piggy! I’m a little boy!” Eren huffed, frowning up at me.

“I don’t know, sometimes it’s hard to tell…” I said in a tone of mock skepticism, “I mean, piggies _do_ like throwing their stuff on the ground as soon as they get home…”

“Nuh-uh! Piggies go ‘oink’ and live in mud puddles! Papa Levi wouldn’t never lemme live in the mud.”

“That’s true, mud is filthy and disgusting. No filthy brats are allowed in this house.”

“See! I’m not a piggy since I’m allowed in this house!” Eren stood proudly, with his hands on his hips, “I told you so!”

“Yeah, you did.” I ruffled his hair again, “How about we go get hamburgers for dinner?” Eren’s face lit up and he smiled widely.

“Hamburgers is my favorite food in the whole entire world!”

“But first, you’ve gotta take a bath.” He frowned for a moment, like he was considering the pros and cons of it, but eventually nodded. “Since you’re being such a good sport, I’ll even take you to the store after we eat dinner so we can look at Halloween costumes for your class party coming up.”  

“I’ll exterminate _all_ the dirt!” Eren yelled excitedly, running towards the bathroom, shedding clothing as he went. I shook my head in amusement as I leaned down to retrieve each discarded clothing item as I followed him. He was such a weird kid.

* * *

Dinner wasn’t terribly eventful; I took him to the burger place and let him play in the playground with the other kids when he finished eating most of his food. I kept an eye on him as he ran and jumped and screamed, making up some game of pretend with the other children—something about slaying giants. I figured it had to do with me having read him _Jack the Giant Killer_ recently. I let him play for another good chunk of time before reminding him that we still had to go look at costumes.

“Oh yeah!” he cried out excitedly, telling the random kids that they’d play again sometime before climbing onto the slide and running over to the shoe rack. I helped him lace up his tennis shoes and we made our way to the car.

A few moments later we were at the store, perusing the Halloween aisle.

“Say, Eren,” I began, “What do you want to be for Halloween?”

“I’unno, something cool!” He answered with all the intensity I’d come to expect of him. I picked through the hangers, looking for his size amongst the different costumes.

“How about a super hero?” I asked, “They’re pretty cool, right?” I offered him a Batman costume. He made a face of disgust.

“Nuh-uh, Batman’s _dumb._ ”

“Superman, then?” I tried.

“Superman’s _dumb dumber!_ ” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“So, no super heroes, huh?” I asked, showing him a vampire themed costume, “How about Dracula?” but he only shook his head in response. “A werewolf?”

“Papa Levi, I wanna be something _super **super** awesome._ ” He insisted.

“Yeah, okay I get that, but you’re gonna have to be more specific and help me out here.” I said, somewhat exasperated. “I don’t have all day, so if you want to dress up at all you’ll have to choose.”

“But but—!! Papa Levi, these costumes are all _lame!_ ”

“Eren—”

“I wanna dress up as someone cool—like _you_ , papa.” His words hit me right in the chest and I blinked in shock for a second before my face melted into a gentle smile and I shook my head. Kids really did say the damndest things.

“Oh, c’mon brat, there’s no way I’m cooler than Batman or Superman…” I muttered.

“Yes huh!” He insisted. His voice dropped to a whisper, “Without you I’d be all alone.”


End file.
